


The Scorpion and the Frog's Final Act

by Dreamvisitor



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Death, Circus, Fairy Tale Retellings, Ficlet, Gen, Pre-Canon, Sad Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:40:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22348900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreamvisitor/pseuds/Dreamvisitor
Summary: Before being a feared serial killer and joining Salem's forces, Tyrian Callows was one of the main events at the mysterious Circus of Faunus Marvels. But his fame was shared with Franz Toadstool, a frog faunus and his companion in their circus act. This is the tale of their greatest and last show ever.
Relationships: Tyrian Callows & Original Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	The Scorpion and the Frog's Final Act

Deep in the woods, if you looked close enough, there was a circus full of the most curious faunus in all of Remnant. A thick fog seemed to always keep it hidden from the world, but those brave enough to venture in the woods might have found themselves enraptured by the wonderful lights and delicious animal shaped cotton candy.

Legend says that its ringmaster knew where to find the faunus rejected by society when they were lost in life, and then took them under their wing before they decided to leave this world forever.

Humans loved the freak show. Their cheers and lien filled the ringmaster with joy, they were so proud of their collection of extraordinary faunus.

One of the main events of this circus was the flying trapeze act, performed by the scorpion faunus Tyrian Callows and the frog faunus Franz Toadstool. The audience went wild for them every night, cheering and laughing as they did incredible acrobatics mid air.

* * *

Tyrian’s vision was not as extraordinary as the rest of him, but with time and lots of practice he learnt to pick up on his partner’s sound cues to know when to jump and when to catch Franz with his arms.

Franz was a nervous little one. He was so unsure at first, fearing that he would not be good enough and would fall down to the safety net in front of the audience. Tyrian would tease him about it all the time and ask what he was doing there if he didn't love performing for their audience.

As time went on, Franz learnt how to be more confident. He ended up trusting Tyrian entirely, he never let him fall. Their performance became so perfect and so in synchrony that Franz’s worries completely vanished.

But as the frog grew to love their act and became fearless, the scorpion was getting bored.

At first, Tyrian lived for the thrill of it. _Would he fall? Would his partner fall?_ He felt euphoric every single time it seemed like Franz was going to slip. But now, it was so effortless that he didn’t even grin like he used to do as he performed.

So Tyrian began wondering _“What would happen if I just let go of him?”_. Soon, that was the only thing he could think about whenever he was on the trapeze doing flips and catching the frog faunus. He kept imagining the kind of face Franz would make as he fell down. _“Would it be a face of betrayal? Fear?”_ He wondered.

The ringmaster noticed that Tyrian seemed bored and decided to do something in order to avoid losing the main event of their circus.

“We will be removing the safety net in the next show, I’m sure it won’t be a problem for you two.” The ringmaster announced to Tyrian and Franz one night after the audience had already left and the faunus were tidying up the circus tent. “It will be more thrilling for our audience.”

Franz immediately dropped the juggling clubs he was carrying back to their place, but Tyrian’s smile grew so wide you could see all of his teeth. He was so excited.

“Not at all!” Tyrian said before Franz could ruin it with any of his scaredy frog words. “We will put up the best show yet, sir.” He continued. 

That was all the ringmaster needed, so they left without giving Tyrian and Franz even a second glance.

Tyrian wanted to go back to work and finish quickly so he could daydream about the next day, but he felt Franz’s hand on his shoulder and had to stop to look back at him.

“What is it?” He said, sounding a little annoyed that he was trying to ruin his mood.

“We need the net, we’ve never performed without it.” Franz said, and Tyrian could notice how deliciously shaky his voice was.

With a smile on his face, Tyrian got uncomfortably close. Towering over him, he took Franz’s hands between his.

“Oh darling, but we are such an excellent duo.” He praised. “In fact, I think we never needed the net to begin with.”

“Y-you think so?” 

“Of course! I never lie.” He lied. His scorpion tail wiggled, as if giving away the truth, but Franz’s eyes were so focused on his that he didn't notice at all. “Are you saying you believe I would fail you and let you fall?” Tyrian continued, trying to sound and look so deeply offended it was even theatrical.

“W-wha— I don’t! You know I trust you with my life.” Franz said hurriedly.

Tyrian laughed, delighted by the little frog’s anxiety and foolishness.

“ _Good_ , then let’s finish things up for today, we need rest for our greatest show.” Tyrian purred.

That night, alone in his bed, Tyrian’s dreams were filled with all the beautiful scenarios that would happen the next night. They were so lovely that he slept with a smile on his face and giggled in his sleep.

* * *

It was time.

Their colorful skin tight outfits were freshly cleaned and their makeup looked the best it ever had. Tyrian Callows had the biggest smile on his face, whereas Franz Toadstool had the same nervous face he had on their first days performing together.

“Come on, smile a little, it’s been so long since we had this much fun.” Tyrian said with such excitement it was almost contagious.

“How do I know you won’t drop me?” Franz asked with a laugh, trying to joke to wash away the anxiety.

“Because my act is _dead_ without you.” He answered with a sinister grin on his face.

For Franz, who had placed so much trust in Tyrian all this time, it was impossible to read any of the intentions behind that smile and instead thought of it as a reassuring one.

And with that, they both climbed to their respective platforms.

Tyrian could swear that without the net under them, it felt like they were so much higher than usual. He loved it.

They began their dance.

It started off like it always did, in perfect synchrony. The crowd loved it and gasped at all the right times. Tyrian and Franz’s moves were beautiful as ever. Tyrian noticed that it was successfully creating a false sense of security for the frog.

Tyrian was smiling so much! And so was Franz. The scorpion’s excitement kept growing, he almost felt like his chest was going to explode.

The moment came for the most difficult and spectacular pirouette of their act. This was when the audience always cheered the loudest, and Tyrian just couldn’t wait to hear how they would react to the surprise.

He heard Franz jumping towards him, arms fully stretched out for Tyrian to catch him. But when their fingertips were about to touch, the scorpion withdrew his arms.

Tyrian was able to see Franz’s face just for a second when he was the closest to him. It was of pure delicious horror, and Tyrian relished on it. The poor frog was so shocked he didn’t even make a sound as he inevitably fell to his death.

The audience screamed in terror, but their voices were almost completely deafened by the sound of Tyrian Callows’ nonstop maniacal cackling.  
ws’ nonstop maniacal cackling.

**Author's Note:**

> [Would yo like to hear a song, young reader?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH8ulvA99n4)
> 
> A lovely person in a RWBY server I'm in talked about Tyrian's backstory being part of a circus and I've been thinking about it for _days_. I just can't stop toying with the idea, that combined with my neverending love for fairytale retellings resulted in this.


End file.
